Defensor pacis

by Marsilius of Padua, Alan Gewirth (Translator), Cary J. Nederman (Foreword by)

Marsilius of Padua is one of the few truly revolutionary figures in the history of political philosophy. The first to propound the separation of Church and State, he is considered the precursor to subsequent political thinkers, from Machiavelli to Marx.

Genres: Philosophy, Politics, History, Nonfiction, Medieval, Political Science, Religion

550 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1324

About the author

Marsilius of Padua, born Marsilio dei Mainardini or Marsilio Mainardini (c.1280 - c.1343) was an Italian political philosopher.

Reviews

[Illiterate · Rating 4 out of 5]

Marsilius uses Aristotelian naturalism to champion legal voluntarism, rule of law, & popular sovereignty vs theology, Church, & Papacy.

[Elia Mantovani · Rating 4 out of 5]

Testo sicuramente affascinante ed imprevedibilmente comprensibile nonstante il divario intellettuale e storico tra il lettore contemporaneo ed il filosofo medievale. Interessantissimo da un punto di vista teoretico è il primo Discorso dove vengono espressi con linearità e chiarezza l'essenza e il valore della rappresentanza politica. Forse un po' più ruvido perché esageratamente esegetico ma parimenti significativo è il secondo Discorso, ove Marsilio, attraverso potenti strumenti quali la logica formale, la filosofia del diritto e l'ermeneutica scritturale demolisce le velleità politiche e temporali del "vescovo romano". Giusto due appunti: 1) è vivamente consigliata per l'analisi del primo Discorso una buona conoscenza della "Politica" di Aristotele, 2) per quanto non sia minimamente competente in materia, la traduzione del Vasoli mi è apparsa poco scorrevole e spesso inutilmente arcaizzante (per quanto invece, i riferimenti bibliografici l'apparato critico della presente edizione siano di altissimo livello).

[Javier Valenzuela · Rating 5 out of 5]

Casi por accidente, Marsilio de Padua llega desde su deseo por la paz a una teoría del Estado basada en el pueblo como entidad permanente. Descubre que es el pueblo quien debe legislar sobre la ciudad, y que todos los que forman parte de él deben ser iguales ante esa ley.

Esta obra tiene una importancia vital porque representa una alternativa histórica al concepto de soberanía que Maquiavelo iba a rescatar un siglo más tarde. Las teorías de esta obra son una gran oportunidad perdida para la historia política de Europa

[Luke Mason · Rating 4 out of 5]

What a lot of fun! This man really hates the papacy, so if you're not a fan either this is actually a reasonably easy read, but not light by any means. His assessment of nature in the First Discourse sets up his damning critique of the contemporary papacy in the Second Discourse beautifully; Marsilius makes it very well known throughout that he's had his medical training, lots of excellent medical analogies which are always enjoyable. If you make it to the end, you'll never see the papacy in the same way again, apart from that's probably the way you saw it before, now you just know exactly why it might not be the best institution out there. Cool to be supervised on this by the biggest brain on Marsilius around.

[Sweena · Rating 4 out of 5]

Wow was this an intense book. I was doing a research paper for a professor who was studying St Augustine and we used this as a reference. I was writing a paper on how St Augustine's writings affected politics and literature of the day